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Is George Lopez' Mango Card Worth a Bite?

NEW YORK (
MainStreet) -- George Lopez. Over the years, the name has become synonymous with comedy and the breaking of barriers for the Latino community. A few years down the road, it might be part of the nation's political discourse, as Lopez has expressed a desire to run for mayor of Los Angeles. At least for the moment, however, it's linked to
prepaid cards.

Comedian and potential politician George Lopez has shown his financial side by backing a prepaid card issuer. But the card he's endorsing has some downsides.

While the others' forays into the world of personal finance have been met with varying degrees of criticism, primarily due to flaws with the products to which they lent their names, the court of public opinion is still in session when it comes to Lopez. How it rules depends largely on what the Mango Card offers and how it compares to the rest of the prepaid card market, namely the
American Express(AXP - Get Report) Prepaid Card and
Green Dot(GDOT - Get Report) Prepaid Card, which were identified as the best offers for teaching financial literacy and replacing your checking account, respectively.

Perhaps the most unique aspect of the Mango Card is the fact that it pays cardholders interest on their account balances. Those who sign up for direct deposit get a 6% APY for balances up to $5,000, and those who don't will get a 2% rate. Customer service is also completely free with the Mango Card.

Alas, it's not all positive. You see, the Mango
MasterCard(MA - Get Report) will be prohibitively expensive for most users, largely because Mango does not have its own network of ATMs. Each ATM withdrawal will therefore cost roughly $4.33 -- Mango's $2 per transaction fee plus the average ATM owner surcharge. If you can take out cash at the store only after a PIN debit card transaction, though, you've got nothing to worry about. In addition, if you're willing to deposit at least $500 per month, Mango will waive the $5 monthly fee it typically charges.

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